


i’m gonna be the one who comes back home to you

by BadWolf_TimeAndSpace



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Don't copy to another site, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, eventually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 14:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17143289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadWolf_TimeAndSpace/pseuds/BadWolf_TimeAndSpace
Summary: “I came home to tell you that I love you.”“Sorry, what?”“I’ve been in love with you since forever and…”“Are you serious right now?” Lexa interrupts her, “I haven’t seen you since our high school graduation. We haven’t even spoken in over a year! I only got these postcards from your trip around the world, telling me how great everything is. And now you’re standing here in the middle of O’s Christmas party and drop this bomb on me. I… Why are you back? Why only now?”“I’ve been kidnapped and held captive in a cave in Yemen?”***





	i’m gonna be the one who comes back home to you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [M_E_Scribbles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_E_Scribbles/gifts).



> I didn’t have much time to write this and even less time to edit, but I hope you’ll like it anyway.
> 
> Merry Christmas, ME!
> 
> Happy Holidays, everyone!

 

It’s only 6 a.m. when her phone rings, waking her up from a restless sleep. It’s been a warm night after a hot day, only getting cooler in the early hours of the morning. Still, Clarke prefers Melbourne in summer over Maine in winter any time. She has always hated the relentless cold.

Groggily she reaches for the beeping device and tips her thumb somewhere on the display. Before she can say anything a voice shouts at her through the speaker.

“Baby G! You’ll never believe what happened! You have to come home immediately and…”

“Raven?” Clarke mumbles, trying to focus on the name on the display, her vision still a little blurry from sleep.

“Clarke! Clarke-y? Are you listening? I can hardly hear you. Did you get what I just said?”

With a heavy sigh she adjusts the phone.

“Raven, did you forget about the time difference again? It’s 6 o’clock in the morning.”

“Pfff, of course I didn’t forget! That’s why I didn’t call an hour ago like I wanted to.”

The blonde rolls her eyes, not caring that her friend can’t see it.

“Of course. Then what is so damn important that you have to wake me up? Has Anya not allowed you to buy another old motorcycle? I know you love to tinker with them, but for once I agree with your girlfriend, five are enough already and besides your garage is packed with…”

“It’s Lexa!”

Hearing that name, Clarke sits up abruptly, suddenly wide awake. “What about her?”

“She and Luna broke up!”

“They… What?”

“I know, right? I mean who would have thought? They were together for what? - Two years. And they have lived together for over 6 months…”

“Raven! When? I mean how? Why?” She stutters.

“I don’t know why. Octavia only told me about it an hour ago. Lincoln told her when they discussed the guest list for their Christmas party on the 24th. Apparently they broke up three weeks ago, but didn’t want to tell anybody till they figured stuff out, like who would move out, who keeps the cat and such. Lexa only told her siblings and made them swear secrecy. But Lincoln let it slip, and… uh that reminds me, I have to go yell at my girlfriend for not telling me…”

“No, wait, Raven! Tell me what’s going on!”

“I really don’t know much about it, Clarke.” Her friend’s voice grows soft with her next words. “But I think, you should come home and talk to her. I’ve been telling you for ages that avoidance is not a solution.”

“I know. Why is this so hard?”

“Everything worth fighting for is hard.”

“Don’t go all quote-y on me!”

“Hey, I’m just trying to be supportive here. Now get your pining ass home, Griffindor!”

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

A twenty-seven hour flight with two stops from Melbourne to Portland and a short visit to her parents’ house later, Clarke finds herself in front of Octavia’s and Lincoln’s apartment door.

Even though she took a quick shower at home and got changed, she still has the smell of airplane in her nose.

There’s a nervous energy buzzing through her veins. The exhaustion from the long journey that is lying underneath just makes her jitterier.

With sweaty palms she knocks on the door, and only a second later she is welcomed by Octavia smiling at her brightly.

“Clarke! You made it! I almost didn’t believe Raven when she told me you were coming home. It’s so good to see you!”

Octavia engulfs her in a tight hug that pushes the air out of her lungs. The minute she is let go and tries to catch her breath another body slams into her, almost tackling her to the ground.

“G-Star! There you are!”

“Jeez, Raven, I’m glad to see you too, but would you mind not crushing me?”

Leaning back, the Latina grins at her, “I thought you could take it. With all that work and travel you’ve been doing on Australia’s farms, you must have build up some muscle.”

Before she can protest, Raven has already lifted her shirt up and is inspecting her abdomen.

“Seems like I was right, that’s a serious six-pack you got there, Crocodile Dundee.” She nods approvingly.

Swatting her friend’s hand away, Clarke reprimands, “how often do we have to talk about personal space, Raven?”

The brunette doesn’t seem to hear her though or probably just doesn’t care, as she continues, “And wait, is that a tattoo peeking out from your waistband? OMG, is that a pink koala?”

“No! Stop it! It’s… just leave me alone.”

“Does Mama G know that you have a tattoo now? Can I be there when you tell her? Please!”

“Why did I ever come back? I should have stayed in the Outback…” Clarke grumbles under her breath while her two friends dissolve into a fit of laughter.

She’s saved from more mockery by Lincoln who welcomes her with a bear hug and invites her inside.

 

 

She hasn’t even made it fully into the living room when she sees her.

“Clarke?”

“Lexa!”

Suddenly Clarke’s whole attention is concentrated on the woman before her, the rest of the world fading into the background.

She is even more beautiful than Clarke remembers her, older, more sophisticated, it suits her. Not even the ugly sweater that looks like Christmas has vomited all over it can diminish her beauty.

Entranced Clarke doesn’t realize that Lexa doesn’t hug her like her other friends. Instead the other woman keeps her distance, her expression mostly neutral, apart from a hint of surprise.

“You are back? Wh-What are you doing here?”

Clarke had hours to think about that moment, to think about what to say to Lexa, she prepared a long romantic speech that would put Nicholas Sparks to shame, but all words seem to elude her when the object of her desire is standing right in front of her.

“I came home to tell you that I love you,” bubbles out of her mouth before her brain has a chance to catch up.

“Sorry, what?”

Trying to get ahead of the situation again, she starts anew.

“I’ve been in love with you since forever and…”

“Are you serious right now?” Lexa interrupts her, “I haven’t seen you since our high school graduation. We haven’t even spoken in over a year! I only got these postcards from your trip around the world, telling me how great everything is. And now you’re just standing here in the middle of O’s Christmas party and drop this bomb on me. I… Why are you back? Why only now?”

“I’ve been kidnapped and held captive in a cave in Yemen?”

“What?” Lexa stares at her with wide eyes. “Clarke, that is horrible, I had no idea…”

“No, that’s… I’m just kidding.” Clarke laughs awkwardly, but Lexa doesn’t seem to find her ill-advised attempt at defusing the situation funny. She just gapes at her disbelievingly, mouth opening and closing without any words coming out.

“Lex, I know you want an explanation and you deserve one, but can we please not do that here? Can we go somewhere more private?” She asks as she becomes painfully aware of all the curious eyes in the apartment that are now directed at them.

The use of the familiar nickname seems to do the trick as Clarke can see the brunette’s features soften.

“You can go to the kitchen, there’s a pot with hot punch, maybe you could use some?” Octavia who seems to come out of nowhere, but has probably been standing right behind her the whole time, suggests.

“Yeah, ok.” “Sounds good.” Clarke and Lexa say in unison, and while they make their way to the kitchen, Clarke throws a thankful look over her shoulder to her friend.

 

 

***

 

 

When they are finally alone, Clarke feels her nervousness bubbling up again. So far, things could definitely have gone better.

Gathering her thoughts and trying to calm herself down a little bit, she busies herself with filling two mugs with hot punch.

It doesn’t take long till she hears Lexa behind her taking a deep breath and stepping closer.

“Clarke, did you mean that? Are you really in love with me?”

Turning around, she offers the brunette one of the mugs, but Lexa declines with a shake of her head. Putting the second mug down on the counter, she takes a sip of her own before she answers.

“Yes, I meant what I said. I’ve been in love with you since we first met back in middle school and you punched that boy for calling me fat and stealing my lunch.”

“Hmm, he deserved it. It was a PBJ sandwich!”

Clarke laughs. She has missed that humorous side of her usually stoic friend.

“Plus, I couldn’t bear to see you cry. Besides you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. You still are…” Lexa admits quietly.

“Lexa,” Clarke takes a step closer to the other woman, looking her in the eyes before continuing, “I might have not put it eloquently and surely could have given you more of an explanation, but what I said is the truth. I came back home to tell you that I love you.”

“But why now, Clarke? After all this time! I thought you had forgotten about me. When you went on your big trip after graduation, you barely called. And after a while you stopped calling altogether and I never got a hold of you when I tried to contact you. You didn’t return my texts and… We were best friends during half of middle school and all of high school, but suddenly you were gone and it felt like I was losing you… like I had lost you.” Lexa’s eyes are shining with tears by the end of her speech, and Clarke hates to see that, but even more she hates that she caused her best friend so much pain.

“I know I acted shitty, I’m sorry, Lex.” She says, despite knowing a mere apology is not enough, it’s not going to fix this.

“So, why, Clarke?”

“Luna.”

“Luna?”

Her throat feels dry and she knows this is it, time for her grant speech, time to tell Lexa the truth. So she takes another sip from her mug before setting it down on the kitchen counter. Turning her back to the counter, her arms resting behind her, she grips the edge of counter tightly with both hands to somehow steady her.

Looking down at the ground, she takes a deep breath. When her eyes meet Lexa’s expectant gaze again, she starts.

“At first I didn’t have the courage to tell you how I felt. I mean I didn’t even know what I felt for you. We were just kids! I only got more comfortable with my sexuality later. Funnily enough dating that douchebag Finn helped me see more clearly what I wanted. But by then it was already too late, you were dating Luna and you seemed so happy. I loved you, so how could I have taken that happiness away from you?”

“Clarke…”

“No, let me explain, please. I wanted to be happy for you - I was happy for you, Lex, but seeing you with Luna also made me jealous and angry and I hated myself for that. And most of all it hurt so bad. I didn’t know how to deal with it, so I planned my escape. I told my mom I would go to med school like she wanted, but I needed to see the world first. Somehow I convinced my parents that it would be a great life experience. They got me an around the world ticket and enough money to get me started. I left as soon as possible, right after graduation. As you know I backpacked through Europe before I flew to Thailand and then to Australia. Sometimes I stayed for a while in one place and worked some typical student jobs. I really loved it. Seeing new places, experiencing different cultures and meeting so many great people along the way… It was amazing and kept my mind occupied, but I never forgot about you, Lexa. I have wanted to share all these amazing things with you, but you weren’t with me and just thinking of you hurt. So I tried to not think about you so often, I kept contact to a minimum. The postcards were a poor attempt at sharing at least a glimpse of my adventures with you. In hindsight I should have know that it would never work. I never managed to escape my feelings for you, and I realize now that I hurt you in the process as well. I’m sorry that I’ve been so stupid.”

“I’m not gonna argue with you on that one.”

“Hey!” Clarke protests but smiles with relief that Lexa heard her out and doesn’t seem to be angry with her.

“You still haven’t told me why you came back though.”

“Raven told me that you and Luna broke up.” She looks away shyly. “I thought maybe I have a chance now… We could have a chance…”

Clarke seeks eye contact with Lexa again, biting her lip in anticipation.

Her stomach drops when Lexa takes a step back, away from her.

“You should have told me sooner.” Lexa shakes her head. “You could have told me so much sooner.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember prom night?” Lexa asks, only confusing Clarke further.

“Yeah, Luna left earlier because you two had a fight.”

“Yes, we - we fought about you. She thought I was in love with you, because I couldn’t keep my eyes off you that evening. You looked so beautiful in your dress.” A light blush colors Lexa’s cheek.

It’s gone as quickly as it came.

Clearing her throat, Lexa proceeds, her voice a little bit shaky, “You danced with me and tried to cheer me up. You were so adamant about me and Luna making up. You even told me to go after her! If you had told me about your feelings then, I would have…” Instead of finishing her sentence, a sob leaves Lexa’s mouth.

She turns around before Clarke can see the first tears falling, she hears her sniffling though.

“Do you know why Luna and I broke up now?”

“No, Raven didn’t know either.”

“After you and I lost contact, I got kind of depressed. I missed you so much and I couldn’t understand why you didn’t just call me or texted me. And every time one of your postcards arrived I became unbearable for a few days. Luna noticed. She didn’t say anything for a while, but then she confronted me about it and accused me again of being in love with you, of loving you more than her. And finally I didn’t have the energy to fight her on this anymore.”

Clarke can’t help it, she steps closer, soothingly stroking up and down Lexa’s arm in an attempt to comfort her.

When Lexa doesn’t shy away from her touch, she wraps her arms around her and presses her front into Lexa’s back, whispering in her ear, “Was she right? Do you love me, Lex?”

Turning in her embrace Lexa looks at her with teary eyes.

“I… yes. I loved her the best I could, but it would have never been enough. She deserved so much more, but I couldn’t give her more, because my heart has always belonged to you, Clarke.”

Their faces are so close that Clarke can feel Lexa’s breath on her lips, and it takes her every ounce of self-control to not bring their lips together.

“So, do you think we have a chance of being together? Do you want us to be together? Because I’m all in.”

“I really want to take that chance with you, but I think I need a little bit of time. You hurt me when you practically ghosted me, and I just got out of a long-term relationship.”

Loosening her embrace Clarke gives Lexa some space. She wants to make clear that she respects her wishes.

“That’s ok. I’m willing to wait for you till you are ready. I’m here and I won’t go anywhere - well except to Harvard in spring, but that’s only a two hours drive away, which is nothing compared to the over ten thousand miles to Australia.”

 

“Ugh! You should hear yourself, you two are disgustingly sappy!” Raven rudely interrupts their moment. “So, I guess you’ve made up, that’s great and all, but could you please kiss now and then leave the kitchen? Other people want to have some punch and snacks too, you know.”

“Shut up, Raven!” Clarke shouts, annoyed at her friend’s antics.

“I’m serious, guys, kiss already! There’s mistletoe right over your heads. It’s tradition!” She points to the mistletoe that sure enough hangs from the kitchen lamp right over their heads.

They both throw a scolding look in Raven’s direction which has her holding up her hands in surrender.

“Ok, ok, I’ll give you another minute. Just hurry up, lovers. My lady wants some punch and I want to get laid. Anya gets really horny when…”

“Raven!”

 

After Raven has left the kitchen Clarke gives Lexa her full attention again. Encouraged by the timid smile on Lexa’s face, she leans forward, whispering, “So, what do you say, Lex? A kiss under the mistletoe? Just because it’s Christmas and all? I mean, I really don’t want to rush this between us, but we can look at it as a preview of sorts…”

Before she can finish her sentence, Lexa’s lips are on hers. The kiss is better than she ever imagined - and she has thought about kissing Lexa a lot. The brunette’s lips are soft and mold perfect against her own. Clarke’s hands find their way to the back of Lexa’s neck, holding her close. 

When Lexa pulls back, they are both flushed and a little breathless, and for the first time this evening there’s a genuinely happy smile on the brunette’s face.

In this moment Clarke knows they are going to be ok.

She has finally come home.

 

 

 

***

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt from M_E_Scribbles:  
> High School friends who haven’t seen each other since graduation day. Then, the one who never came home finally does but only because they had to tell the other she loves her.  
> Bonus points if ugly sweaters and mistletoe are worked in. Clexa or Ranya, please!


End file.
